LOS ANGELES — Jessica Alba is planning to adopt in the future as she looks to fulfill her wishes for a big family.

The 28-year-old actress — who gave birth to her first daughter, Honor Marie, with husband Cash Warren in June 2008 — speaks about her plans for adoption while serving as a celebrity volunteer on Sunday night's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

"If you have the love, and the capacity to love children, you should just adopt. And I plan on doing it, " Alba says on the episode, which centers around a Texas couple with 13 children, nine of which are adopted.

She adds: "My mom grew up around a huge family, and they always wanted more kids, and I was like, ‘Why don’t you just adopt?' "

During her guest appearance, Alba joins the Extreme Makeover team in assisting Larry and Melissa Beach, who have been forced to live in a small trailer after Hurricane Ike destroyed their home and all of their belongings in September 2008. With many of their adopted children suffering from various disabilities, the high school sweethearts have been unable to move back home due to their mounting medical bills.

The special two-hour episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

LOS ANGELES — Jessica Alba certainly hit the gym in order to snap back into shape after giving birth for the first time, but the "Fantastic Four" star says that wasn't her real secret.

"I wore a girdle," the 28-year-old actress reveals in the March issue of Elle. "Eight weeks after my girlfriend had her baby, you could see her six-pack. She told me to put an elastic band around my waist — any kind of band or girdle works. She was like, 'I slept in it.' "

While her friend's advice proved beneficial, Alba admits the two pals bounced back in different ways.

"I didn't recover as fast as she did," says Alba, who welcomed her baby daughter Honor last June. "I don't have a six-pack — that's just not my body at all."

Alba says being the 2009 Calendar Girl for the Campari campaign forced her to get back into shape quickly, enduring workouts that "were horrible" along the way.

"I cried. And I haven't worked out since," she tells the mag.

While her training was difficult, the former "Dark Angel" star says childbirth was surprisingly easy.

"Contractions aren't that bad," she tells Elle. "If you've ever had bad cramps? That's what they're like. But that moment when they put the baby on your chest — that's deep. It's a deep experience."

The new mother says getting back to work has proven to be a challenge now that she has a little one waiting for her back home.

"This is the first time I've been away from her," says Alba. "It's been six days. It sucks; it's the worst thing ever. But we Skype, so I can see her on video. The worst is when you can see her little chubby hands grab the screen, and I'm not there."

The thought of being away from her daughter quickly brings Alba to tears.

"That's a new thing — I never cried before," she says. "Just being a mother is making me a big, weepy mess."

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Jessica Alba is not a fan of outgoing president George W. Bush, Fox, or Bill O'Reilly for that matter.

The 27-year-old actress was cornered on the red carpet at the Jan. 18 Declare Yourself party in Washington, D.C., where she was asked by a producer of "The O'Reilly Factor" if she had any final words for Bush as he left office.

"Goodbye," said Alba, keeping her answer short and sweet.

The producer then asked the "Sin City" star if she wanted to give a "shout-out" to O'Reilly.